Post-chemotherapy maturation of a pineoblastoma

Excerpt

Pineoblastoma is defined as a highly malignant embryonal tumour of the pineal gland [3]. As conveyed by the adjective embryonal, it is a small blue cell tumour resembling a PNET [2, 3]. It is found at one end of a morphological spectrum, at the other end of which lies the pineocytoma. In between, amidst poorly and better differentiated tumours, are parenchymal pineal tumours of intermediate differentiation, consisting of a variety of transitional types [2, 3]. Seldom are the latter composed of both poorly and well differentiated tissues. Tumours of intermediate differentiation and pineocytomas are rare in the first decade, while pineoblastomas occur in the first and second decades, though rarely in infants. We describe a case of infantile pineoblastoma showing diffuse neuronal maturation after treatment. …